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Making an offer on REO property or a foreclosure in Seneca?
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Just as with any property purchase, your smartest move is to hire a professional real estate agent. If you have questions about real estate in Seneca, South Carolina, call me or send me an e-mail and check out our new site advertising those foreclosures: Upstate SC Bank Foreclosures |
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What's an REO?"REO" or Real Estate Owned are houses which have gone through foreclosure that the bank or mortgage company now possesses. This is different than real estate up for foreclosure auction. 
If you buy a property during a foreclosure sale, you must pay at least the loan balance plus any interest and other fees amassed during the foreclosure process. The buyer must also be prepared to pay with cash in hand. To top everything off, you'll accept the property entirely as is. That may include standing liens and even current denizens that may require eviction.
A bank-owned property, conversely, is a more tidy and attractive proposition. The REO property did not find a buyer during foreclosure auction. Now the bank owns it. The lender will take care of the removal of tax liens, evict occupants if needed and generally arrange for the issuance of a title insurance policy to the buyer at closing.
You should be aware that REOs may be exempt from normal disclosure requirements. For example, in North Carolina, it is optional for foreclosures to have a Property Disclosure Statement, a document that typically requires sellers to reveal any defects of which they are knowledgeable. By hiring Golden Corner Realty & Dev. Inc., you can rest assured knowing all parties are fulfilling South Carolina state disclosure requirements.
Am I guaranteed a good deal when purchasing an REO property in Seneca?It's occasionally presumed that any REO must be a good deal and a chance for guaranteed profit. This isn't necessarily the case. You have to be cautious about buying a REO if your intent is to make money off of it. While it's true that the bank is usually eager to offload it quickly, they are also motivated to minimize any losses.
 When contemplating what to pay for a foreclosure, carefully analyze comparable sales in the neighborhood and be sure to take into account the time and cost of any repairs or remodeling needed to prepare the house for resale. The bargains with money making potential exist, and many people do very well buying foreclosures. But there are also many REOs that are not good buys and not likely to turn a profit.
Time to make an offer?Most lenders have staff dedicated to REO that you'll work with while buying REO property from them. Normally the REO department will use a listing agent to get their REO properties listed on the local MLS.
Before making your offer, you'll want to contact either the listing agent or REO department at the bank and find out as much as you can about their knowledge about the condition of the property and what their process is for receiving offers. Since banks usually sell REO properties "as is", you may want to include an inspection contingency in your offer that gives you time to check for unknown damage and cancel the offer if you find it. As with making any offer on real estate, you'll make your offer more attractive if you can include documentation of your ability to pay, such as a pre-approval letter from a lender.
After you've presented your offer, it's customary for the bank to make a counter offer. At this point it will be up to you to decide whether to accept their counter, or submit another counter offer. Be aware, you'll be working with a process that generally involves several people at the bank, and they don't work evenings or weekends. It's not uncommon for there to be days or even weeks of negotiating back and forth. Golden Corner Realty & Dev. Inc. is are used to working around the schedules of this type of seller and will do everything possible to ensure there are no undue delays.
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